Marshall Amps have teamed up with the Sex Pistols to celebrate the punk icons' 50th anniversary with a limited-edition tube amp that’s begging to be cranked to 11.
The special reimagining of a JCM800 Half Stack is being described as “a bold tribute to the sound, attitude, and cultural impact of one of music’s most disruptive bands,” and Steve Jones was a key figure in its creation.
Jones is powering a new era for the band, with Frank Carter as their well-chosen frontman, and this amp stays true to the band's sound – and to punk on the whole.
Article continues belowClad in an “anarchic pink” and yellow colorway, which nods, in a fittingly unsubtle manner, to the band’s culture-shaping record, Never Mind the Bollocks, the head pairs with a matching 1960A 4x12 Angled Cabinet with Celestion G12T-75 speakers. And there’s a custom 50th anniversary badge to boot.
Of the head itself, there’s “100W of unmistakable British valve tone,” and it pushes the punk spirit with a no-bullshit single channel, Master Volume, effects loop, and vintage, late ‘70s firepower. The eagle-eyed will have seen it on Sex Pistols stages during their latest reunion.
Produced in Marshall’s Bletchley factory in the UK, only 81 units are being made, so expect this thing to sell like hot cakes.
“I've been using Marshall for a long time now, and the 800 series is my workhorse – always reliable, always consistent,” says Jones. “I like to keep things simple, as the saying goes: It’s only rock ’n’ roll.”
“The JCM800 became a defining voice of British punk,” adds Steph Carter, Culture Marketing Director at Marshall. “Working with Steve to reimagine this amp for the band’s 50th anniversary has been a powerful tribute to the sound that changed everything.”
Head to Marshall for more.
Jones, meanwhile, says he has “nothing but love” for original frontman John Lydon, who has been excluded from their reunion.
